The present invention relates to an artist's carrying case, and in particular to a carrying case adapted to carry wet canvases, painting panels, or canvas boards of any size.
A number of professional and amateur artist paint at on-site locations rather than in a studio on an easel. This presents problems particularly when the artist uses oil, acrylic, or similar painting materials which takes substantial periods of time to dry after they are applied to the canvas. Each time a wet canvas or wet panel is moved, a danger exists of having the painting smeared with the wet paint. Not only can a painting be ruined, but substantial damage to clothing, upholstery, and so forth may occur from the paints. The boxes and cases that have been developed for carrying art supplies and paintings have not been satisfactory for carrying wet canvases. Most of these cases include slots which are adapted to receive only a single size canvas of a specific width. Most of these are not suitable for carrying stretched canvases, painting panels, or canvas boards, or for canvases of varying size.
Examples of cases of this type are shown in the patents to Maxwell, 1,175,070; Brooks et al, 2,648,933; and Fuhri, 4,061,224.
The present invention provides a wet canvas carrying case which solves the problems described above, and which is useful for carrying both wet and dry stretched canvases, painting panels, or canvas boards, of any size. The canvases are securely held in place by a unique holding arrangement, including an adjustably positioned u-shaped holder block which is horizontally slideable on a track. The holder block also includes a vertically adjustable sliding rod having a bent over finger which engages the top of the canvas or panel to eliminate movement in an upward direction. Because the holder block is adjusted horizontally and the sliding rod is adjustable vertically, the carrying case of the present invention can accomodate a varying number of sizes of art canvases.
The carrying case also provides a convenient means for carrying dry canvases or other valuable paintings. The carrying case preferably is designed to accomodate a plurality of paintings, although it will be appreciated that the invention is equally applicable to a carrying case for a single canvas.
Among the objects of the present invention are the provision of a carrying case which permits an artist to carry one or more wet canvases while maintaining them in a secure position eliminating the danger of wet paints being smeared or otherwise ruined.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a carrying case for wet canvases particularly adapted to accomodate a large variety of sizes of canvases.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an artist carrying case in which the canvas holding means is easily adjustable without the need of special tools and equipment.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a carrying case which is constructed economically, but which provides a firm and sturdy holding means for holding wet canvases in place.
Other objects of the present invention will become apparent by referring to the accompanying drawings and specification.